Latino pastor speaks out against 'harmful' ICE raids at churches: 'Deeply concerned'

A Latino pastor said churches are fearful of wide deportations astatine services arsenic President Donald Trump's medication rapidly cracks down connected amerciable immigration.

"We're called arsenic pastors to service each communities," Reverend Dr. Gabriel Salguero told Fox News Digital. "So we don't ask, arsenic pastors, whether radical are immigrants and what their presumption is. We don't person the bandwidth, and we're not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. We're not police. But we're profoundly acrophobic astir however these policies are going to impact children successful our Sunday schools and for families that are successful our worship service."

Salguero is pastor of The Gathering Place successful Orlando, Florida, and president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, (NaLEC), which represents thousands of Latino evangelical churches and religion leaders crossed the nation. 

Since returning to office, President Trump has rapidly begun to fulfill his run committedness to curb the illegal immigration situation and deport convulsive transgression migrants, issuing respective enforcement orders aimed astatine overhauling U.S. migration instrumentality and policy.

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ICE agents marque arrests connected September 25, 2019, successful Revere, Massachusetts. President Trump issued a fig of enforcement orders cracking down connected amerciable migration during his archetypal week and 2nd word successful office.

Thousands of convulsive criminals person been detained by ICE, according to the White House, with 962 transgression amerciable migrant arrests recorded connected Wednesday alone.

Trump has authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to rotation backmost guidelines that restricted ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement astatine "sensitive" locations, similar schools, churches and hospitals.

"Criminals volition nary longer beryllium capable to fell successful America’s schools and churches to debar arrest," the DHS said successful a connection connected January 21 announcing the changes. "The Trump Administration volition not necktie the hands of our brave instrumentality enforcement, and alternatively trusts them to usage communal sense."

Salguero's group, NaLEC, has travel retired against these argumentation changes, calling them "harmful" and an onslaught connected spiritual liberty.

The religion conjugation is supportive of Trump's actions to deport convulsive criminals, but besides has concerns astir different immigrants being targeted.

"We privation to marque definite that successful this benignant of enforcement, there's not a chill sent up the spine of Latino evangelical churches and communities for those radical who are not convulsive criminals, but are radical who are starting tiny businesses, who are going to school," Salguero told Fox News Digital. 

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A Latino pastor said his churches are navigating the difficulties of imaginable ICE raids astatine their churches. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

"We're looking for a sober attack that deals to convulsive criminals, secures the border, but finds a mode to integrate the bulk of immigrants who are trying to bash bully to this country," helium continued.

Fears implicit Trump's migration policies had caused attendance and religion information to decline, according to Salguero.

"They said, 'We can't spell to church. We don't consciousness safe. We're not definite however this is going to enactment out,'" helium told Fox News Digital of comments he'd heard.

The religion person acknowledged that ICE and different migration officials person a close to participate their worship spaces to enforce the instrumentality and should beryllium treated respectfully. His radical is grooming spokespersons for each religion who tin respond successful a calm mode if migration officers sojourn their church. They are besides giving parishioners accusation astir their rights.

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Rev. Gabriel Salguero said that Latino churches are acrophobic of ICE raids due to the fact that of Trump's enforcement actions cracking down connected amerciable migration successful delicate spaces similar churches. (The Gathering Place/Getty Images)

He believes that Latino pastors person a work to some travel the nation's laws and support their biblical committedness to serving each people.

"For us, this is not a partisan issue. This is simply a pastoral issue. Christ has called america to locomotion alongside these families, to emotion them," helium said.

Salguero is simply a registered independent, but emphasized that Latino evangelicals are not a "monolith" and stock a assortment of opinions connected Trump's migration plans.

He said NaLEC has spent the past 2 decades calling connected Congress for "common sense, bipartisan migration reform."

In a property release, NaLEC asked the Trump medication to "reconsider these harmful policies portion continuing to enactment with Congress toward broad migration betterment that is grounded successful justice, compassion, and respect for the dignity of each people, careless of their migration status." 

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At Friday's property briefing, White House property caput Karoline Leavitt defended the administration's crackdown connected amerciable immigration, referencing a New York Times canvass showing "83%" of Americans supported deportations of convulsive transgression amerciable immigrants, and "97%" of the deportations carried retired by the Trump medication truthful acold had deportation orders from the erstwhile administration, according to ICE. 

The Department of Homeland Security and White House did not instrumentality a petition for remark from Fox News Digital. 

Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.